A Collection Transcribed
and Digitized
by Edmund Berkeley, Jr.
List of Letters
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, University of Virginia Library
Summary
Letter from Robert Carter to Micajah Perry, April 12, 1728
Robert Carter writes to London merchant Micajah Perry, April 12, 1728, concerning the affairs and expenses of the Lloyd estate which he manages, including the head overseer's salary, tobacco being shipped, etc., and his insistence on payment for his work with the estate. He encloses a bill of exchange (not present).
Letter from Robert Carter to Micajah Perry,
April 12, 1728
-1
-
Rappahannock, [Lancaster County, Virginia]
Apl. the 12th: 1728
Micajh: Perry Esqr.
Sir --
I am now taking my leave of Capt: Keeling
I have drawn upon you Payable to him for £4"1" -- the Impost and
Cocquet
for the LL
Tobbo: and to be placed to that Accot. herein Send you
a bill of Exchange
of his for £6:19: -- my own money and to be Carried to
my Credit,
Since my Coming home I have Considerd my Letts:
of Decr. last Via 4 (which I duplicated) and find I was so full
in them relating to the LL's Concern that I have the less to add here, I am
Suddenly to draw for £35 to Meeks
the head Overseer which is his Ann
nual Salary for the care of that Estate, all the under Overseers Shares
are packt up in the Tobbos: now coming to you which I must charge wth.
the other disbursements for the Year 1727. The Levys. The Quit rents,
The
Cloaths making. The rent. for four
two plans: for working Twenty odd
of the hands &ca: Also I am to draw to Doctr: Belfeild
£15 his Yrs. Salary
My Demand of £30 a year for the care of this Estate for
-2
-
14 or 15 Years together I do insist upon and Claim as my due Loyd
to [illegible]
my
knowledge paid a hundred a year, and I have heard but how true
it is I cant tell that in the Chancery Cause between your family & him
there was an Article charged of £100 per Annum for the management
of the Estate. how much of this was allowd or how the decree ended I
dont know. my Confidence is in you that you will take care to See
that I have right done me my former Letters will inform you wt.
a great deal of Trouble I have had and the personal care I have taken
from year to year in the Governmt. of this Estate Since it hath bin in
my hands Shall therefore Conclude here
Sir
Yor. most humble Servt.
per Capt: Kelling
NOTES
Source copy consulted:
Robert Carter Letter Book, 1727 April 13-1728 July 23, Carter Family Papers, Virginia Historical Society, Richmond.
Robert Carter generally used a return address of "Rappahannock" for the river on which he lived rather than "Corotoman," the name of his home, on his correspondence, especially to merchants abroad. The county and colony have been added for clarity to the heading on the draft.
[1] Captain William Keiling commanded the Betty.
( Survey Report 6800 summarizing Adm. 68/194, Virginia Colonial Records Project, Albert and Shirley Small Special Collections Library, University of Virginia.
)
[2] The impost was the duty imposed by Britain on imported tobacco, and the cocket, for which a fee was charged, was the document bearing a cocket or seal issued by the "King's Customs House" that the impost had been paid. (See the definitions of each word in Oxford English Dictionary Online.
)
[3] A bill of exchange is a kind of check or promissory note without interest. It is used primarily in international trade, and is a written order by one person to pay another a specific sum on a specific date sometime in the future. If the bill of exchange is drawn on a bank, it is called a bank draft. If it is drawn on another party, it is called a trade draft. Sometimes a bill of exchange will simply be called a draft, but whereas a draft is always negotiable (transferable by endorsement), this is not necessarily true of a bill of exchange. ( "Dictionary of Financial Scam Terms,"
8/22/2005
)
[4] Quit rent was the term used for "a (usually small) rent paid by a freeholder . . . in lieu of services which might otherwise be required; a nominal rent paid (esp. in former British colonial territories to the Crown) as an acknowledgement of tenure," in this case, to the proprietors of the Northern Neck. Carter as the proprietor's agent, collected these payments. ( Oxford English Dictionary Online
. Oxford University Press.
)
This text, originally posted in 2004, was revised September 5, 2014, to add footnotes and strengthen the modern language version text.